Bay Area COVID-19 Roundup: SF Vaccine Supply 'Inconsistent, Insufficient and Unpredictable'; Santa Clara County Offering Shots To 65 And Older
CBS San Francisco Staff Report
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With a surge in coronavirus cases, the information you need to know is coming fast and furious. Here's a roundup of the COVID stories we've published over the 24 hours.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed: COVID Vaccine Supply 'Inconsistent, Insufficient and Unpredictable'
SAN FRANCISCO -- While San Francisco is ready to administer 10,000 COVID vaccines per day, Mayor London Breed on Tuesday said the city's supply from the state and federal government has been "inconsistent, insufficient and unpredictable." The mayor appeared Tuesday afternoon in a livestreamed conversation with San Francisco Deputy Director of Public Health Dr. Naveena Bobba and the city's Director of Disease Prevention and Control Dr. Susan Philip to discuss vaccine distribution in San Francisco. "I know this is the topic on everybody's mind," said Breed. "We've never done anything like this before in this country, in this state or in this city. Vaccinating this many people as quickly as possible in the midst of a pandemic; it's a complicated process with many moving pieces." Breed noted that the city was in good shape with a plan in place to administer the vaccine at a network of sites once the doses are received , but that availability of the doses remained a challenge. Read More
Lawmakers Grill Bank Of America Over Its Handling Of Massive EDD Bank Card Fraud
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lawmakers are turning up the spotlight on the massive Employment Development Department (EDD) and Bank of America problems relating to unemployment insurance benefits. For the first time, Bank of America officials addressed the issues publicly in a budget subcommittee hearing. Most of the focus centered on EDD and its massive backlog, but also the fraudulent transactions by criminals. For months, Bank of America has remained mostly silent addressing its EDD debit card holders, with crooks stealing cash from ATMS, and criminals emptying accounts online. "We are dealing with something unprecedented, criminals are sitting on a cache of stolen identities for some time and waiting for an opportunity to jump," said Bill Fox of Bank of America. Read More
EDD Fraud: Millions May Have To Repay California Jobless Aid, State Auditor Says
SACRAMENTO -- California's unemployment agency might have overpaid millions of people since March after it stopped enforcing some eligibility rules so they could process claims faster, according to a new audit released Tuesday. As millions of claims poured in during the height of state restrictions on businesses, state officials decided to stop doing some of the time-consuming work necessary to make sure people who applied for benefits were eligible to get them. They also stopped their bimonthly checks with people who were already getting benefits to make sure they were still eligible to receive them. The result: Up to 4.1 million claimants could have to repay some or all of the unemployment benefits they got during the pandemic — some through no fault of their own. Of those claims. 2.7 million might have been ineligible for benefits at all and 1.7 million might have been overpaid. It's unclear if there is overlap between the two groups. Read More
Positive COVID Tests Force Santa Clara, USF Men's Basketball Teams To Pause Activities
SAN FRANCISCO -- Positive COVID tests and related contact tracing are forcing the University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University men's basketball teams to pause all team activities, both schools announced. USF said Tuesday the team would postpone the next three games: Saturday's road game at BYU, a February 4 game against Pacific in Stockton, and the February 6 matchup at Pepperdine. USF's next scheduled game is at home against Pepperdine on February 9. Santa Clara said it had postponed four games: Thursday's home game against Pacific, Saturday's game at Portland, the February 4 game against Saint Mary's at home, and a road game against Gonzaga on February 6. The Broncos' next scheduled game is now against Gonzaga at home on February 11. Read More
Santa Clara County Now Offering Shots For Residents 65 And Older
SAN JOSE -- Santa Clara County residents 65 years and older are now eligible to get vaccinated, county officials announced Tuesday Residents in that age range can now schedule appointments through the county website for openings starting on Wednesday and thereafter. The expanded eligibility follows the state's current guidance for vaccine allocation. "Older residents and those living in skilled nursing facilities continue to be the population at greatest risk for serious illness and death from COVID-19," said Dr. Monika Roy, county assistant public health officer. As of Monday, more than 160,300 individuals have been vaccinated in Santa Clara County by the county, private health care providers and other vaccine distributers. Read More
California Reveals Data Used To Lift Stay-At-Home Order
SACRAMENTO -- California's health department released to the public previously secret projections for future hospital intensive care unit capacity throughout the state, the key metric for Monday's decision in lifting the coronavirus stay-at-home order. At a news conference on Tuesday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly revealed the formulas the state was using to project ICU capacity. Several factors were used in making the projections, including case rates, along with historical data on how many are hospitalized or are needing to be placed in an ICU. During Tuesday's briefing, Ghaly defended the decision to lift the order. "We believe that we lifted it at the right time. Again, this was not a regional stay-at-home order based on community transmission rates only. It was really focused on what we would see in the hospitals a few weeks out," he said. Read More
California Assumes Greater Control Of Vaccine Distribution
SACRAMENTO -- California officials on Tuesday announced a number of changes to the COVID-19 vaccine delivery system giving the state more control in order to "expedite vaccine administration." The changes come after state officials received intense criticism over the slow and scattered vaccine rollout by counties. According to a release issued Tuesday, the changes learned during the recent "10-Day Vaccine Challenge" will "focus each sector of the health care system on their core competencies." RELATED: COVID Reopening: Information On Tier Status And What's Open By County The release said the vaccine distribution and operations effort will be led by Secretary of the Government Operations Agency Yolanda Richardson in conjunction with Secretary of Health and Human Services and head of the California Department of Public Health Dr. Mark Ghaly. Read More
Other Trending COVID-19 Stories
California Lifts Restrictive COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Order; 'Light At The End Of The Tunnel'
SAN FRANCISCO -- With a surge of COVID-19 cases easing and ICU bed availability beginning to soar, Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday announced California was lifting a restrictive stay-at-home order Monday for all five California regions, opening the way for a return to limited restaurant dining, religious services and other activities. The state will now return to the tier system of enforcement with most counties placed in the purple level initially. State officials also lifted a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Among the sectors reopening include outdoor dining, gyms, places of worship and wineries. Indoor retail can open at 25% capacity along with personal care services, such as hair and nail salons. Following the lifting of the stay-at-home order, some shuttered businesses didn't take long for resume operations. Read More
Project Home: Eviction Moratorium A Lifeline For Struggling Bay Area Renters But For Some It's Too Late
SANTA ROSA -- Time is running out for the state legislature to extend California's eviction moratorium. If lawmakers don't pass a bill this week, one in five Californians could lose their housing. "I'm like really distressed, so as you can see, I cry a lot," Ofelia Camacho said. The statewide eviction moratorium is the only thing keeping Camacho's parents and their family of seven off the street. "I feel like my parents have helped out the community a lot. We've given out a lot and we feel like the community does not have our backs," Camacho said. Despite the moratorium, their landlord has tried to evict them three times this year, mostly for allegedly having too many people living in one home. Camacho's father used to work at a local vineyard but suffered nerve damage in his legs when heavy machinery fell on him. Still, they've managed to pay rent, selling items at the flea market and borrowing from other family members. She is worried that generosity could soon run out. Read More